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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076207">The Loch Ness...Scauldron?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirkwords/pseuds/kirkwords'>kirkwords</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Race To The Edge Ta(i)les [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Brave (2012), DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dragons mentioned, Dragons: Race to the Edge, Gen, Loch Ness Monster is just a Scauldron, Sorry to disappoint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 01:21:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirkwords/pseuds/kirkwords</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a visit to DunBroch, Hiccup hears about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. With the Princess' help, they sneak out of the castle to find it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elinor/Fergus (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III &amp; Merida (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Race To The Edge Ta(i)les [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2240454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Loch Ness...Scauldron?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroiMajo/gifts">ShiroiMajo</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This work is gifted to @ShiroiMajo who not only pushed me to write this idea but also proofread this monstrosity for me. Thank you very much, my friend :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hiccup was astonished at the hospitality of the King and Queen of DunBroch. He and Stoick had arrived earlier that day by boat, not wanting to fly in at risk of getting Toothless or Skullcrusher hurt or captured. Upon the Norsemen's arrival, the Scots had not only offered him and his father dinner, but none of the discussion had turned political. King Fergus was particularly interested in Hiccup’s leg as he himself had lost a limb to the demon bear Mor’du, a story Hiccup had actually already heard from Fergus’ daughter, the princess Merida.  </p><p>“...and my leg was clean off!” Fergus finished his tale, loud and boastful.</p><p>“That’s his favourite part,” Merida chortled, walking behind her father and taking the chicken leg from his distracted hand and tossed it to the dogs, a pair of very active Scottish Deerhounds. She made a quiet apology for being late, blaming it on her horse Angus.</p><p>“Merida, don’t waste your father's food.” Her mother said, mildly disappointed.</p><p>“He wasn’t eating it! He was too busy telling the story he tells every dinner,” Merida threw herself into her seat, next to Hiccup, bumping him slightly. “I’ve had to hear that story every night for 10 years!”</p><p>“Well, I’ll have to be honest dear, I have been rather interested in the young lad's story,” Fergus said, pointing his fork towards Hiccup. “How’d you lose your leg, son?”</p><p>“Dad! You can’t ask him why he doesn’t have a leg! What if it’s a sensitive story?” Merida jumped up in his defence.</p><p>“It’s okay, really,” Hiccup interjected, half pulling Merida back into her seat. “The truth is, Your Majesty. I don’t really remember exactly how I lost it, just the story beforehand.” He explained, going into what he could remember. </p><p>
  <em>The size of the Red Death shadowed out the crumbling remains of Dragon Island. With the added dark clouds they were flying into, Hiccup couldn’t see a thing. He could barely see Toothless’ head in all the chaos. He had one goal: survive. Escape this mountain of a beast by any means necessary, and get back to everyone alive. The blast of fire had decimated Toothless’ tailpiece, meaning this was it. They had one chance to rid the world of this Queen, and not very long to do it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ok, time’s up. Let’s see if this works.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Night Fury dove into the Red Death’s sights, shooting past it and going into a divebomb. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Come on! Is that the best you can do?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Heading to the ground faster than he had ever done before, Hiccup could feel the heat and breath of the dragon behind them. If they faltered for a fraction of a second, they would be gone. Eaten or burned alive. Hiccup shifted his foot. Nothing. The tail mechanism was gone, and the Red Death was closing in. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Stay with me, buddy. We’re good. Just a little bit longer.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Another roar and inhale from their pursuer. If Hiccup hadn’t been facing possible death in the face, he probably would have joked about having ringing ears for the rest of his life. They continued to speed through the clouds, no sight of land or sea just yet, but time was against them, speeding faster than Toothless could go, falling like sand in a mis-manufactured hourglass. He could hear the gas building up in the Red Death’s stomach.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hold, Toothless.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The gas had reached the dragon's mouth, it was now or never. He had to time it just before the gas could spark.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“NOW!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Night Fury spun around and shot a blast right into the open mouth of the Red Death. Falling backwards, they all appeared from the clouds, the jagged stones and rocks of the island awaiting their fall. Toothless shot open his wings and the pair flew up behind the giant beast, as its wings burnt and tore from the ignition. A loud crash and boom sounded over the area as the Red Death hit the ground, a cloud of fire erupting from the area of impact. Toothless flew through and around the large, towering spikes on the dying dragons back, trying to outfly the fire. Glancing back, Hiccup watched as the tailpiece broke off into the fire. Turning back, he could see nothing else but the approaching mace-like tail of the Red Death. </em>
</p><p><em>“No. No-uh.”</em> </p><p>“...and I don’t remember anything after that. Just waking up in my house a few weeks later, with a missing leg and this in its place.” Hiccup finished, gesturing to his prosthetic on the floor. As he looked up, everyone except his father was looking at him with amazement. </p><p>“How did you survive that?” Merida’s brother Hamish piped up, who up until this point had been fairly disinterested and taunting his brother with haggis.</p><p>“Toothless had wrapped Hiccup in his wings, shielding him from the fire,” Stoick explained. He then went on, much to Hiccup’s distaste, of how Gobber had to go through Hiccup’s blueprints and drawings of Toothless to make his first prosthetic and remake Toothless’ saddle. Merida hid her laughter, but Hiccup noted that her face turned almost as bright as her hair. Elinor decided to have a word at this point. </p><p>“So you say, dragons actually exist.”  </p><p>“Oh sure they do,” Fergus butted in before Hiccup or Stoick could say anything, “Nessie’s basically a dragon, ain’t she Merida?” </p><p>“I’m sorry, Nessie?” Hiccup asked Merida, dumbfounded at the fact she had never mentioned this to him. Merida ignored the question and responded to her father. </p><p>“The Loch Ness Monster is just a myth, Dad. Why else do you think no one has actually seen her?” Despite her words, there was a tone in her voice as if she didn’t believe her own words. The conversation died down as Elinor changed the subject to politics. The dinner carried on civilly, with Hiccup and Merida being walked up to their respective rooms, on opposite sides of the castle after the meal to rest for the next day. </p><p>Hiccup took the time to unpack his things. On top of all of his things was a cage he had insisted to carry up himself. Lifting the cloth draped over it, he opened the cage. Sharpshot, his Terrible Terror flew into his lap, curling up and attempting to nap. Hiccup disrupted his sleeping by bringing the dragon to the desk, overlooking the window in his room, and the yards outside. Tearing out a page of his journal, he began to write a letter. </p><p>He tried to think of what to write but figured to leave it for now. Something interesting should happen in the next couple of days for him to tell Astrid about. He had asked and asked Stoick if she could go with them. It honestly turned into begging until the moment they left, but Stoick had remained strong in his word. It was still a no. Standing up, Hiccup flopped onto the bed, the feathered mattress cushioning his fall. It was a strange feeling. He didn’t like it. Hiccup instead opted to take one of the pillows and the blanket off the bed and lay it on the floor, a far more comforting surface. Sure, the cold concrete was directly underneath, but he was far more used to that than the rectangle of feather-stuffed fabric. His eyes shut as he thought of home, and his friends he was missing so dearly. Though no such peace would last forever. </p><p>“Oi, bonehead. Wake up!” Hiccup awoke to a swift kick in the gut. Scrambling to his knees, pulled out the blade he had sat under the pillow, a habit he had adopted from Astrid. His defences dropped when he saw the wide grin on Princess Merida’s face. </p><p>“What? Can’t a Viking rest in peace?”</p><p>“Nope. Also, you do know the bed was for sleeping in, right?” </p><p>Hiccup stood up, a clear head taller than his friend. </p><p>“Alright, what are you planning?” He asked, tossing the blanket and pillow back onto the mattress from hell. </p><p>“Let’s go find Nessie. We’ll be back before sundown.”</p><p>“Nessie,” Hiccup repeated, “the quote un-quote ‘dragon’ you told your father doesn’t exist. You can waste my time in the morning, Princess.”</p><p>“No, I was kidding,” Merida piped up, sounding rightfully offended that she had gone through all this trouble to waste his time. “If I had agreed with him, he would have dragged me off with him years ago to find it. But with you,” she carried on, “you know dragons better than anyone. You’ll know what to do.” </p><p>Hiccup rolled his eyes, and reluctantly followed Merida outside the castle. They snuck around the castle staff, running in and out of rooms until they reached one of the back entrances. Merida led the charge, cheering and whooping that they’d managed to get out. Finding Angus in the stables, they got onto the horse, and rode into the woods. Hiccup felt that riding bareback on a galloping horse was a similar experience to when he had ridden bareback on other dragons, albeit less scaley. </p><p>They made it to a clearing, a large lake spanned miles and miles, Merida slid down the bank to the water’s edge with ease. Cursing himself for going on with any of this, Hiccup followed her, his prosthetic slipping on a large mossy rock at the bottom. He went face first into the water, Merida cackling as his misfortune. Realigning his leg, Hiccup stood out of the water, and shook his head, spraying Merida with water. She yelped and jumped back, cursing at him. </p><p>“So, this is Loch Ness?” Hiccup asked, leaning against the steep embankment. Merida nodded. </p><p>“She usually surfaces around here somewh-THERE!” Merida cut herself off, cheering and jumping around, ecstatic that she had seen the fabled monster in these waters. Hiccup squinted to see the animal on the horizon, its anatomy looking too familiar to be a creature no one had seen before. A few miles out from where they stood was a patch of land, sticking up out of the water. Hiccup dove and swam for it, to get a closer look of the Monster. He reached the stones, and pulled himself to his feet, shulking off his heavy armour, leaving on only a soaked tunic and trousers. Merida surfaced a few moments after he did, wringing out her hair and woollen dress. </p><p>“Warn me before you want to go swimming next time, okay Haddock?” Merida muttered. Her sour mood dissipated after seeing Nessie surface again. </p><p>“That’s a dragon…” Hiccup said quietly. “If only Toothless was here.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Merida interrupted his thought process, “but did you say that was a dragon?” </p><p>“It’s a Scauldron.” Hiccup nodded and smiled, watching as the Scauldron peacefully swam in circles. “If there’s one dragon here, there has to be more.” </p><p>“Like the one that took your leg?” </p><p>“Oh that was Toothless.”</p><p>“But you said you didn’t know-”</p><p>“Shh. There’s more.”</p><p>As if an answer to his hopes, Hiccup spotted more dragons under the water. A small Scauldron hatchling poked its head out from the water. Hiccup sat down near it and offered his arm, still dripping with water. The dragon licked his arm and nuzzled it. Merida hesitantly joined him, as they sat together, watching the dragons enjoy life. </p><p>“Not a myth then, huh?” Hiccup asked, the moon shining over the lake, illuminating it.</p><p>“Nope. Very real.” Merida sighed, and lay on her back, looking at the stars. “Guess you’ll be back with your own dragon at some point then, right?” </p><p>“I actually brought one with me. He’s back in my room.” Hiccup replied casually, still petting the baby Scauldron that had taken a liking to him. The adult had made no effort to see them but didn’t seem to mind them there, so Hiccup wasn’t bothered. </p><p>“You brought a dragon with you?” Merida sat up, her eyes shining with intrigue. “Can I see it?” </p><p>Hiccup nodded. They two swam back to the shore they had started on, scrambling back up the bank, soaking clothing in hand. Angus didn’t seem to appreciate the wet humans on his back, but Merida told him to “suck it up and don’t be such a wuss”. They didn’t have half as much victory sneaking into the castle as they had had sneaking out of it, luckily the maid that caught them was one of Merida’s favourites, so they only got a light warning to not do it again. Merida navigated the way back to Hiccup’s room. Sharpshot flew at his face when they opened the door. Hiccup chuckled and whispered an apology from leaving him in the room alone. He introduced the dragon to Merida, who seemed to like each other right away, to Hiccup’s delight. At least Hiccup now knew what he wanted to write in his letter. </p><p>
  <strong>Milady, </strong><br/>
<strong>I hope Berk hasn’t been destroyed in my absence. I miss you guys so much (you far more, but don’t tell the Riders that. They probably already do now that I think about it)</strong><br/>
<strong>We arrived in DunBroch this morning, so early Dad had to drag me out of my bunk so I was presentable for the King and Queen when we docked. This place isn’t so different from Berk, the people aren’t either. I wish you could have come with us. I won’t lie, sailing with dad for several weeks was not as fun as he had made it out to be originally. </strong><br/>
<strong>Merida and I saw a dragon tonight. She snuck us out of the castle to find the legendary ‘Loch Ness Monster’ which turned out to just be a Scauldron, but the babies were cute. We’re now back in the castle (only got caught once on the way back!) and Merida is playing with Sharpshot, so I may have to send this in the morning. </strong><br/>
<strong>I’ll see you when I get home</strong><br/>
<strong>Love, </strong><br/>
<strong>Hiccup</strong>
</p><p>He admitted to himself that the letter was a bit disjointed, but rolled the paper up anyway. Astrid didn’t mind his rambling letters, and if she did she certainly hadn’t said anything to him about it. He glanced behind him to see if he could steal the Terror back to send the letter. On the bed, Merida was curled up, still in her wet dress, with Sharpshot resting under her arm, purring in his sleep. With a small smile on his face he sketched the Scauldron baby from memory, and slipped it in with the letter. He would in fact be sending it tomorrow. Grabbing the blanket and pillow back from the bed, he lay down on the floor for the second time, and fell asleep, the steady breathing of Sharpshot lulling him to sleep. </p>
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